The In Between
by Selene Airay
Summary: Months after the disasteroid incident, things are almost peaceful. Then a ghost from an alternate timeline called Dan comes, and Ellie's secret is ousted to her parents and Mr. Lancer. Left with ample time to think afterwards, Ellie realizes she might be susceptible to a future like the one with Dan. Distressed, she goes to Clockwork for assurance. fem!Danny/Clockwork


Summary: It's been a while since Ellie Fenton managed to persuade her arch nemesis, Vlad Masters, to give up on his plots then proceeded to keep the Earth from being destroyed by what media had nicknamed the 'disasteroid'. Now eighteen, Ellie has had been half ghost and known as Ellie Phantom in her alternate form for two years now. Ever since Vlad Plasmius ceased to be a problematic ghost, there haven't been any huge incidents with all of Amity Park or the entire world in danger. Naturally, however, the peace didn't last. Dan Phantom escaped from the Fenton Thermos, and ended up in Ellie's time-line trying to get to Danny. A fight ensues, and Dan is finally taken care of for good. As a result of the chaos, Ellie's parents and to everyone's surprise Mr. Lancer find out about her. Afterward, she has ample free time for the first time in four years. This leads to Ellie being distressed by a realization that she wasn't as good as everyone seemed to think. Distressed, Ellie goes to talk to Clockwork. fem!Ellie/Clockwork

Warnings: gender bender, slight violence, slight language, deviation from canon

Song to match if interested: She Will be Loved by Maroon 5 (I was listening to it when I decided it would match nicely once it gets pass the reminiscence from the beginning)

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom doesn't belong to Selene Airay.

**The In Between**

Ellie Fenton sighed as she relaxed on her bed, having managed for the first time in almost a month to do all of her homework without staying up really late. It's been so quiet lately, no ghostly disturbances or incidents that involved all of Amity Park or even the entire world being in danger. Having over five months of no major ghostly issues was nice, of course. The peace was just making her nervous at this point. Any girl would be uneasy when up until that point it had been four years since peace and quiet had lasted for a long period of time. Feeling lethargic, or perhaps deciding she was probably paranoid, Ellie shook off the feeling.

'That just must be the difference the lack of an arch nemesis makes.' she supposed.

Ellie was far from a normal teenager. Now eighteen and a senior in high school, grades and getting into a good college were the least of her worries. Her biggest concern started four years ago, not even a month before she started high school. Ellie got shocked when she accidentally turned on her parents' ghost portal while she was inside. Instead of simply dying, she stayed half alive and ectoplasm fused with her DNA. In other words, that day Ellie Fenton became half human, half ghost. Nowadays, she was better known as Ellie Phantom. (If you were a human unaware that Fenton and Phantom were one in the same.)

With ghost hunters for parents, it had been easy to figure out what had happened. Figuring out how to control her powers, on the other hand, took time yet was instinctive. After a while, she ended up becoming the protector of Amity Park- and any ghost that needed help- of her own accord. Naturally, her nature defying existence along with how she chose to wield her powers made her quite a few enemies, both human and ghost. Her parents included to her misfortune. Four years had passed and they still didn't realize that not all ghosts were bad.

Her parents' reaction to finding out about her being half ghost was the least of her worries. For the first three and a half years, at any rate. Their old college friend, Vlad Masters, was also half ghost. (He was known as Vlad Plasmius in ghost form.) He had hated Jack Fenton, Ellie's father, since his accident. That was because Jack made the mistake that caused said accident and because Vlad was jealous of Jack for holding the affections of Maddie, Ellie's and her sister Jazz's mother.

Ellie hadn't even heard of him until her parents dragged her and Jazz along to their supposed college reunion a few months after Ellie gained her powers. At first, she hadn't cared either way. Then they arrived at the castle Vlad lived in. The man hadn't even considered or pretended to hide that he had feelings for Maddie even though she'd been happily married for years. When he revealed himself to Ellie, he tried to get her to turn her back on her father.

Naturally, she'd said no and used ousting both of them to her mother to get him to give up on that particular plot. Ever since he'd tried time and again to kill Jack or win Maddie's love. Some were even just aimed at A: getting Ellie to work with him/become his daughter, B:getting Ellie out of the way, or C: simply tormenting her/making her life miserable. For the last purpose, he'd even cheated his way into the position of Amity Park's mayor. It all boiled to a head not quite six months ago.

Ellie almost gave up when he created a team of 'teen heroes/ghost hunters' that made her think Ellie Phantom wasn't needed. She'd even nearly wrecked the Fenton Ghost Portal (as Jack and Maddie called their man-made 'door' into the Ghost Zone) getting rid of her powers. She hadn't been almost normal for two weeks when she was proven wrong. Vlad had displaced a meteor from Jupiter's rings. (though it took her a while to figure out it was his fault) It was gigantic, and could have destroyed the Earth, taking the ghost zone along with it. The impending doom hadn't been enough of a confidence boost at first. Then, her parents came up with a way to destroy the disasteroid, as it had been dubbed. Vlad funded the mission and provided the equipment needed. Apparently, an almost apocalypse at the hands of a weather-controlling ghost on a rampage hadn't taught him a lesson, because he almost messed up the coordinates... on purpose. It had been during a break, but luckily Jack's asking Ellie to check on his 'friend' meant she'd been just in time.

_"Mr. Masters, what exactly do you think you're doing?" _Ellie had asked.

_"Why, whatever do you mean, little badger?"_ Vlad had said, trying to get out of answering.

_"I mean, is a grudge against my dad and a creepy obsession for my mom really worth risking the end of the world?" _Ellie had said pointedly.

_ "You know the excruciating pain of the ordeal." _ Vlad had retorted bitterly, _"Can you blame me for holding a grudge when on top of half killing me your father's mistake cost me essential years of my life?"_

_ "... Has Dad been lying about how close you used to be?" _Ellie finally asked after a moment of silence.

_"Far from it, his lack of eloquence probably makes you underestimate our former friendship." _Vlad informed her, confused. _"Why do you ask?"_

_"__You're__ his supposed ex best friend," _Ellie explained, _"If you were really so close... how is it after over twenty three years you still don't see that Dad would be devastated if he found out how severe the consequences of the accident were?"_

The teen had clearly thrown Vlad for a loop. _"What are you saying little badger...?" _

Ellie remembered sighing at what she had seen as a classic case of male stupidity. _"Dad was so happy when you invited him to the fake reunion because he'd thought you'd finally forgiven him. Jazz says you're even our godfather."_

_ "He what...?" _Vlad hadn't believed his ears, _"It's been so long... I never imagined that Jack would still hold our friendship in such high regards after twenty years."_

Seeing her enemy's reaction, Ellie took a leap and offered Vlad a deal. _"Vlad, I'll never approve of your feelings for my mom, it's just plain creepy." _she informed him,_ "But I'll tell you what... leave my dad alone and stop the underhandedness and evil plots, and I'll step aside when you make fair and square attempts to get closer to her since I know she'd reject anything beyond friendship."_

_ "Danielle...?"_

_ "My dad's still really fond of you, right?"_ she reminded him, _"That means that you can't be all bad when you're not being a crazy fruit loop."_

_ "For the last time, Danielle, I'm not crazy or a fruit loop."_

_"It's Ellie or I'll keep calling you fruit loop." _Ellie had threatened, _"By the way... did you __have__ to give Dani the same name?"_

That unexpected conversation had some unexpected revelations for the billionaire. He'd never realized until then that his current methods- and his plan to take over the world- had done nothing but push Maddie, the object of his affections, and Ellie, her younger daughter, away. Vlad would never admit to the result being a change in heart, however slight it may have been at the time. Nonetheless, he kept his word to both the Fentons and the public and put in the right coordinates needed for the mission.

To everyone's surprise, it changed little. The laser like weapon did little besides take a decent chunk out of the disasteroid that amounted to a drop in a bucket. It turned out to be lucky that it was hit at all, because a much smaller meteor got in the way in an extremely inconvenient moment. 'Master's Blasters', the teens Vlad had hired, apparently had blamed Jack. When the ship landed, Ellie was shocked to see her father literally tossed out of the ship none too gently, already beaten up. (For once his size was a good thing, because the force used could have landed most smaller people in a wall) Vlad reprimanded them at first to give them a chance, but then disbanded them when he found out that the two who were dating messed Jack up by distracting him during the crucial moments. In fact, the whole time all the teens did was get in the way.

Vlad's plan had involved outing himself as the ghost Vlad Plasmius and offering to save the Earth himself by making it intangible. However, when Ellie dragged Jazz, Sam, and Tucker into helping Vlad look over the information he'd gathered on the gigantic meteor, a problem was found. The disasteroid consisted entirely of a substance ghosts couldn't touch or affect with their abilities known as 'ectoranium' amidst studiers of parapsychology. So, a new plan had been needed. Ellie realized that while no one could turn the disasteroid intangible, but it _would_, theoretically, be possible to turn the Earth completely intangible. There was just one problem. To do such a thing would take most, maybe even all, of the ghosts that inhabit the ghost zone to do it.

The one thing all four had agreed on was that it would be a bad idea for Vlad to accompany the teens. Especially considering that the entire mess was his fault, which some ghost or other was bound to be aware of. Instead he offered to distract Jack, Maddie, and if needed Sam and Tucker's respective parents. So Ellie, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker went by themselves and unhindered to collect the help they would need.

Of course, like most plans, especially the simple or almost simple ones that were by no means easy, it was easier said than done. Tucker came up with the bright idea of gathering them using the Specter Speeder's ghost net. At first it seemed to work. Then, Skulker came along and set them free. He accused Ellie of coming to the ghost zone for refuge, like many other ghosts had done to the point of over-filling the ghost zone. In the end, to give Jazz and her friends time to escape Ellie had to distract the angry ghosts and ended up regaining her ghost powers. (Later, Ellie realized for the first time that being half ghost meant that she was half dead. She'd ended up with a white stripe in her hair before because you couldn't just go form being half dead to being completely alive.)

Once it was safe, they made a tactical retreat for the moment. There had been just enough time for the failure not to matter much, after all. Vlad held a press conference revealing that he and Ellie Phantom the formerly MIA 'ghost girl' had called a truce and formed a plan. To Ellie's shock, after she outlined the plan everyone accepted it. Even her parents put the past aside for a moment in order to avoid mass destruction. Once they were all in the plan's mission control, located in the ever neutral Canada, and ready to go, it was time for Ellie's part. That time, she went into the ghost zone solo.

It was a good thing, too. This time when Skulker freed the ghosts he also damaged the ship. Ellie had been auto-ejected and had to use her intangibility to stop herself from flying. They all surrounded her again. Then they proceeded to ignore her pleas, even when she pointed out that since the two worlds were connected, if the Earth went the Ghost Zone would too. The blasts had her on her back, though there was no actual ground to lie on. For a moment, Spectra,Skulker the Box Ghost, a ghost Ellie hadn't recognized, and Amorpho surrounded the teen. She was sure she would die. Then, she was saved by none other than Clockwork.

_**"Time out."**_ Clockwork's voice rang out, loud and clear even though he hadn't shouted. (Ellie had never been able to find his tower easily, and had been too pressed for time to even try.)

_"Clockwork!"_ Ellie remembered saying in relief, _"Your timing is as perfect as ever."_

_"Clockwork, as in the ghost of time?What's the meaning of this?" _Skulker had demanded angrily as the ghosts' spokesman of sorts, _"Why are you helping the whelp?"_

_ "Ellie is far from a child, let alone one deserving such a title."_ the ghost of time had reprimanded the hunter, which impressed a very grateful Ellie, _"Rather, she's someone you should all listen to."_

Skulker turned to Ellie. _"All right, ghost child. You have our attention. But be quick to explain."_

_ "As I said, the human realm and the ghost zone are interconnected." Ellie explained, "They're just two different sides of one coin. You can't destroy one without taking out or causing destruction in the other."_

_ "I still don't get it, Ghost Girl." _Technus had said.

Ellie had rubbed her forehead in frustration. _"I'm sure most of you have heard of yin and yang, right? The half black half white circle with each side containing a small dot of the opposite color?"_

Upon receiving confirmation she continued. _"Yin and Yang, for those who are unaware, is more than a neat symbol. It's a philosophy from China, and is a concept of balance, one that proves time and again to be true."_

_ "What does philosophy have to do with it Ghost Girl?"_ Skulker had grumped.

Clockwork hit the mostly mechanical ghost on his head._"Be quiet and listen."_

_ "Okay, here's how it is: The world is made up of opposites, just like the concept. For example, you can't have light or darkness without the other." _Ellie had said, _"You think overcrowding is a problem? If the disasteroid destroys the Earth there is nothing to guarantee that there will even be a Ghost Zone left __to__ overcrowd."_

In the end, thanks to Clockwork's interference and Skulker's slight change of tune, the ghosts helped anyway and the day was saved. Before they returned to the Ghost Zone or their human realm hauntings Ellie even finally got to apologize to Ghost Writer. Skulker even promised to stop hunting her when she promised to get Ghost Writer to prank the one responsible for the mess. (Vlad was initial angry but unable to say or do anything because it served as payback for all the chaos he'd caused for Ellie.)

That was somewhere between five and six months ago. Almost a year had passed since Vlad gave up his evil ways. Since then, not a single case of particularly large scale ghost-related chaos or danger had happened. Or rather, nothing large scale that threatened either all of Amity Park or the entire world. On one hand, Ellie greatly appreciated the additional time to concentrate on the human part of her life. But sometimes when it was quiet and she was left completely to herself, it made her nervous. It had been far too long since there was enough normalcy in Ellie's life for relative peace of any sort to last so long.

_"Be careful, Ellie."_ the halfa remembered Ghost Writer had once warned her when the latest book in her favorite series threw her for a loop, _"Sometimes if one thinks too much or too hard their thoughts become their worst enemy, even for writers like me."_

Ellie shook her head. 'Writer's right. Thinking too much will only give me a headache if I'm not careful.' she thought, 'Besides, if I have that much time to reminisce, I should probably get to bed...'

The next morning, Ellie woke up bright and early. Not exactly by choice, though. First of all, she had school. Second, she dared anyone who thought her sleeping habits strange to have around six hours being the most sleep they usually got due to fighting ghosts or evading ghost hungers constantly, and see if they could retain a semi normal sleeping pattern. Luckily, however, it was only a half day so the boredom and annoyance didn't last long. The annoyance, aside from the petty bullying and mocking, coming form Mr. Lancer... Who was Ellie's teacher _again_. She was just glad that even with protecting Amity Park from ghosts keeping her busy, she still retained grades that made her look like a genius compared to Dash. (Proving favoritism only stretched so far when the teacher put as much stock in being fair as Mr. Lancer claimed to.) Being half ghost made one appreciate the small things in life.

"I'm hungry." Tucker complained as he, Sam, and Ellie left school, "Wanna get lunch at the Nasty Burger?"

"Ew, you know I don't eat meat." Sam retorted.

"I like burgers as much as the next vegetarian, Tuck," Ellie said, "But I've never liked eating at a restaurant with a name like 'Nasty Burger'. How do you even know that food is safe?"

"Aw, come on." he whined.

"All they have for me to eat is French fries." Sam reminded their male friend.

"Okay, guys, seriously. Your argument over food is so old by now it's gone stale." Ellie intervened, "How about we hit the pizza joint instead?"

The goth and techno geek exchanged a look, then said in unison, "Sounds good to me."

Around an hour later, Ellie got a text.

"Sorry, guys. I'll have to bail on the arcade." Ellie apologized as she put her phone down on the table, got up, and grabbed her backpack, "Vlad's going to come over today and Jazz says she and Mom need my help talking Dad out of remodeling the entire house so that it's still standing when he arrives."

"'Still standing'?" Tucker asked, "But wouldn't remodeling be a good thing?"

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "I mean even when it hasn't been messed up or partially destroyed because of a ghost or your dad's inventions it could use some touching up."

"Uh, helllooo. Artificial ghost portal." Ellie reminded them, "Who knows what could happen if he tries to dismantle it. Or if my parents could successfully build a new one without Dad messing up."

"Right." Tucker winced, "In that case good luck."

"Yeah, with your Dad being the impending problem you'll need it." Sam said.

As much as Ellie loved her dad, her friends were right. Vlad, too, actually, sometimes Jack Fenton really was an idiot instead of oblivious or lacking a proper attention span.

"Later." Ellie waved as she left.

A short time later found Ellie cutting through the park. She wasn't in a rush, so she had time to just enjoy nature on her way home. She wasn't a big environmentalist like Sam, but she still enjoyed nature. Just as she realized she left her phone with Sam and Tucker and was about to head back, her ghost sense went off. She went ghost and turned around just in time to see… a ghost with flaming white hair, red eyes, and a black and white outfit- complete with a cape- that was eerily similar to the black and white jumpsuit of her ghost form. (Said ghost form also having white hair rather than her normal black, and green eyes instead of her normal blue.)

"Well, this is a surprise." the ghost, who appeared to be a man in his twenties, said, "I break out of the Fenton Thermos and escape from Clockwork's tower to the human world with intention to get revenge on Danny, but instead I find a girl. Tell me, are your parents Jack and Maddie Fenton?"

"… Clockwork's involved? Okay, two questions." Ellie replied, "First of all, who are you? Also, who is Danny, how do you know my parents, and what did he ever do to you?"

The ghost have a semi creepy laugh. "It's been a long time since I've had a chance to introduce myself to anyone. I suppose you can call me Dan. After all, the Danny from my timeline died the rest of the way a long time ago."

"… I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this has something to do with an alternate timeline." Ellie realized, noticing how he talked like he and the Danny character he was looking for were one in the same.

"Well, what do you know?" the now identified Dan chuckled, "Danny was always a bit smarter than his peers gave him credit for, but it seems you're quicker on the uptake than he ever was."

"Again, who is Danny and why were you asking about my parents?"

"In short, you could say that I'm the outcome of one of the possible timelines where the Fentons' second child was a boy named Daniel." Dan answered.

"… Suddenly I'm reminded of Vlad when he was an evil fruit loop instead of just a weird one. Your hair, flames aside, definitely does _not_ help." Ellie decided, "Would you be what Clockwork meant when he said certain possible futures that can't happen to me with the way things are going?"

Dan chuckled. "And on top of apparently befriending Clockwork you even got the cheese head to give up his schemes."

"Ookaayy… Definitely need the story."

"As much as I'd like to sit and reminisce, I don't have all day. But I suppose a short explanation can't hurt." Dan said, "In my timeline the CATs ultimately led to the deaths of Danny's family, his two friends, and even his windbag of a teacher Mr. Lancer. Danny went to his arch foe, having no where else to go where someone could understand his situation. He was so depressed that in desperation to get the pain to go away, he talked Vlad into removing his ghost half. Danny Phantom in turn removed Vlad Plasmius from Vlad Masters, and when he tried to overshadow the older ghost he was overwhelmed. They mixed, and I'm the result."

"… Clockwork must have intervened, then, from what you said earlier." Ellie mused, "It sucks that something like that happened in a different timeline, but I'm Danielle Fenton, better known as Ellie, not Danny Fenton. Whatever happened, it has nothing to do with me."

"Au contrair. Danny's the one who trapped me in the Fenton thermos, and with Clockwork's help he changed everything." Dan retorted, preparing a blast of ecto-energy, "You might be different in more than gender, but you _are_ still him. So since I'm stuck here, you'll do for my plans for revenge."

"… Why did I think I actually met a ghost I wouldn't have to fight just because you didn't attack right away?" Ellie wondered aloud as she dodged the attack.

"Well, that's one way you and Danny are alike. You aren't as rash, but you're both too trusting for your own good." Dan mocked as he rushed at her.

It went on in much the same way, blasting, punching, and dodging back and forth. Ellie had no idea how she would beat Dan. She just hoped he didn't have ice powers like she did.

"Ellie, are you okay? You said you'd be home half an hour ago!" a familiar voice shouted.

'Jazz? Uh oh… this could be bad.

"Not the best time, Jazz!" she shouted, Forming an ice sword to block the latest blast, "Right about now would be a good time to be running."

"Ice powers? That's one power I never had." Dan mused, "I suppose it would be Plasmius' doing. But do you have this power?"

With that Dan let out a ghostly wail. It destroyed the park, but Ellie still managed to get up right away. Ellie smirked at the surprised look on the evil ghost's face when she said she'd had it for a year. Then he created three clones. For a while she was managing to dodge just fine. Then one of them caught her by surprise. She was caught then put back on her feet before she could hit a tree.

"Are you all right, Little Badger? Jazz found me and said you were in a spot of trouble." Vlad said, currently in his ghost form.

"Well if it isn't the cheese head himself." Dan cut in, "I don't think I ever expected to see you again."

"Who are you?" Vlad asked, "As I recall, Ellie here is the only one who's ever called me that, and as she prefers claiming I'm a fruit loop that's rare."

"I've already explained it once, Plasmius." Dan said, "And you won't be around long enough for it to matter if you know or not."

"I'll get Clockwork to fill us in later Vlad." Ellie said as they worked together to try to bring Dan down, "Let's just stay alive and take Dan down."

Going over all of the close calls mixed with lucky but mostly ineffective hits would be repetitive. Ellie was grateful for Vlad's ability to clone himself so easily though, that was for sure Sometimes the two halfas were close to defeating Dan. He didn't stay down long and proved harder to beat than he seemed, however. Eventually, none other than Ellie's parents showed up.

"Well, if it isn't the parents. How nostalgic." Dan drawled.

Soon all three were kept busy as they continued the fight while trying to avoid getting hit by Jack and Maddie's weapons. Eventually, Vlad was busy with the only clone left and the adult Fentons were kept distracted by Jazz. Taking advantage of the situation, Dan got in one good blast that sent Ellie through a couple of trees then hitting her head on a fountain as she hit concrete. The last thing the teen noticed as black spots filled her vision and she was so dazed she could barely stay conscious was Jazz running towards her and the sensation of turning back into her human self.

'Oh damn...' was Ellie's last coherent thought, 'Talk about bad timing...'

"ELLIE!" Jazz half screamed, covering her little sister's body with her own as their parents prepared to fire, "Mom, Dad, you can't shoot her!"

"Did you say Ellie?" Maddie asked.

"Ellie's not just human, Mom. She's half ghost." Jazz explained.

"My baby, half human half ghost? I can't believe it. It shouldn't be possible." Maddie said.

"She's been protecting everyone as Ellie Phantom this whole time." Jazz said, "Once she saved me from being blasted by a giant laser when the ghost Spectra was posing as a psychologist."

"But if it's true, why wouldn't Ellie tell us?" Jack asked.

"Can you blame the girl? You're ghost hunters, and you're always spouting off that ghosts are all evil, emotionless masses of ectoplasm." Vlad said, dodging a blast only to get caught in one of Dan's eco-chains.

'This is bad.' Vlad thought as he switched from Plasmius to Masters and found himself unable to break free when he switched back to his ghost form.

"Vladdie?!" Jack exclaimed in shock.

"We'll talk later, Jack." Vlad said, "I suggest you watch out."

The two professional ghost hunters turned around to see Dan right behind them. They pointed their guns at him. Dan, however, didn't react.

"We're not afraid of you, ghost!" Maddie shouted, shooting a well aimed blast at Dan.

"Of course not. I've seen you worried but I've never seen either of you frightened of anything." Dan said, preparing a blast of ectoplasmic energy, 'All that's missing this time is Sam and Tucker.'

A blast hit Dan in the back. He turned around, and everyone could see Sam and Tucker.

'Well, speak of the devil.' Dan thought.

"I don't know who you are, but get away from the Fentons and Mr. Masters!" Sam commanded.

"What on Earth are the two of you doing here?" Vlad asked.

"We caught a taxi to the Fentons' house because Ellie forgot her phone." Tucker explained, "Good thing too. When the door was unlocked with no one home, we knew something was up."

"Are those our weapons? Where did you get those?" Jack asked.

"As touching as this little reunion is," Dan cut in, "I think it's time to cut it short."

The whole time, Ellie was at least able to hear what was going on. She was just waiting to gather her bearings so she could jump back in the fight. Hearing the words that meant that anyone of her friends or family present could be killed at any moment, the teen panicked.

"We're not going down that easy!" Jack retorted.

"Sam, Tucker, you should get out of here." Maddie said, not taking her eyes off of Dan.

"Enough words." Dan said, "It's time to end this. Have any last words, _Maddie, Jack_?"

"Why you piece of scum-"

"There's no way we'll lose to the likes of you!"

"Fools. The two people who are your only hope are both out of commision." Dan said, "Time to say goodbye."

Ignoring Jazz's protests, Ellie struggled to her feet.

"ENOUGH!" Ellie shouted, letting out a ghostly wail that sent Dan flying.

"How cute. The little halfa girl is trying to save her loved ones." Dan mocked, "What can you do, Ellie? You are more powerful than Danny, but not enough to count when you only have one more power than him."

"I'm still going to stop you!" she declared as they charged at each other.

"TIME OUT."

Everything living or otherwise paused, even the water, the things that had been swaying in the slight breeze, and the breeze itself. With a spiral effect, a portal shaped like a gear formed then faded. Left in its wake was a ghost in a purple shirt and cloak with a purple staff. His skin was blue, and he had a scar over one of his red eyes. He went to the ground, and switched from his usual ghost tail to his legs, which revealed him to be wearing blue pants and purple sandals. He put a pendant shaped like a gear hanging from a purple ribbon over Ellie's neck.

"Huh? Clockwork, when did you get here?" Ellie asked upon realizing what was happening, "What's going on?"

"As you told Vlad, when everything's been said and done I'll be perfectly happy to give you an explanation." Clockwork told her, "For now, though, we need to take care of this menace."

"The sooner the better." Ellie said, "Things have been blown totally out of proportions with my parents finding out."

"It is indeed a troublesome situation." Clockwork agreed, "However you've far passed the risk point for a future that in any way resembles Dan's timeline."

Ellie sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I'm so glad you got here when you did, Clockwork."

"Think nothing of it." The time ghost said, putting an arm around her in comfort, "After all, you're one of the first people I've cared about in a long time."

"So… what exactly are we going to do about him?" Ellie asked when they pulled apart.

Clockwork pulled out… a collar of some sort. "I retrieved this from Technus. It will leave Dan paralyzed and unable to use any of his abilities."

Soon Dan was bound and immobilized. Ellie took great delight in stomping on his foot and semi childishly kicking his shin. It was doubled when the action elicited a chuckled from Clockwork.

"That thing is cool. I guess the tech obsessive ghost is good for something." Ellie commented, "Well, that's one thing taken care of at least."

"That it is. But I believe that it's time to move things along." Clockwork said, then pressed the button on his staff. "TIME IN."

Once time started up again, Dan fell to the ground. Amidst his cursing, everyone noticed both Dan's situation and the new arrival. As Vlad shouted for someone to let him loose, Ellie's parents and friends tried to figure out what had happened. Jazz was the first one to process the change in the situation.

"Who are you and what just happened?" the red haired teen asked.

"I am Clockwork, the ghost of time." he introduced himself, "I'm a friend of Ellie's. As for what happened, I stepped in to stop that hybrid."

"I think I remember Ellie talking about you." Sam said, "But why would you step in?"

"For a period of time, Dan was imprisoned. His confinement was locked away in my tower." Clockwork explained.

"Does that mean that this was all your fault?" Tucker asked.

"Actually, a group that occasionally employees my services as what amounts to a glorified janitor pulled me away from the tower for a meeting when I was about to make sure Dan's prison would hold."

"As in the guys you complain about…? So… it's the mass of giant eyeballs' fault that Dan escaped? That's rich." Ellie giggled, earning a smirk from Clockwork.

"Okay, I think I speak for all of when I say WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?!" Jack interrupted, half out of frustration at the confusion and half in annoyance at the interaction between his daughter and what he saw as a ghost boy. (Even though the whole time he'd been in his adult appearance, which seemed to make him appear to be in his twenties.

"Can we all go home first? I need to get cleaned up." Ellie said, "Besides, if it's Dan you're talking about, I'm not sure either. Clockwork did offer an explanation, though."

"I'll meet you there, Ellie." Clockwork said as he grabbed Dan, "I just need to drop this off with the observants."

An hour later, everyone was cleaned up and the two half ghosts were also bandaged up. Ellie started with her accident the day the portal started working. She admitted how she spent six months reigning in and learning to control any inhuman abilities that popped up. The three elder Fentons and Vlad discovered that over the next year, a number of ghosts made their way into the human world through the Fenton Portal, and that the first incident with the ghost simply known as the Lunch Lady inspired her decision to protect people from rogue ghosts. Ellie wrapped up the explanation with the story on Vlad and the close call with the disasteroid.

Jazz and Ellie were just trying to remember when Ellie found out the former knew her secret when Clockwork arrived. True to his word, he explained everything. Everyone learned about how in an alternate timeline, the CAT test from four years ago put Danny Fenton, the male version of Ellie, under enormous stress and pressure. They learned Dan's story, and how after pressing by the observants Clockwork interfered. Fourteen year old Danny ended up time traveling and defeating Dan to save both his family and the future.

Once the humans and half ghosts were sure they understood the details, Clockwork left. As he stepped into the portal he said that someone should get the door. He hadn't been gone for more than a second when the doorbell rang. The guest turned out to be Mr. Lancer. The high school teacher had been at the park during the incident. Ellie had paled, but the man explained that he was only there to get an explanation and set something up concerning her studies if he found the outcome of the conversation acceptable.

In the end, everything worked out. Mr. Lancer even said that he would excuse ghost related lack on homework. Plus as long as she asked permission she could leave his class at any time, and he would make sure she didn't get in too much trouble with her other teachers. School ceased to be more of a stress factor than it was for more normal teens. Ellie was so happy that she literally jumped for joy when that conversation reached its end.

Home was a slightly different matter. When Mr. Lancer left and Jack and Maddie were finally able to process what they had learned. For a sweat inducing few minutes, they were both silent. Then Maddie hugged her younger daughter, telling her that of course she still loved her. Jack took much longer to come around, it wasn't even that week. Naturally, things changed. Ellie wasn't allowed to leave while a class was in session to fight ghosts anymore. Not to say that ghost fighting was off limits for the teen during school. If it was during a break, lunch, PE, or study hall it was okay. Maddie even promised that if she and Jack showed up at a ghost siting and found Ellie to already be fighting it, they would only interfere if she needed help. (Jack, naturally, protested at first but was basically forced/conned into agreeing.) Then there was the awkward moment when Ellie had to dodge awkward (and sometimes slightly gross) questions about ghost boys, and about Clockwork.

Three weeks later found Ellie finally caught up and current with her school work. Sam and Tucker had during that time decided to give dating a month's trial, though it was mostly if not only to give Tucker some experience because Sam finally took pity on him. Ellie found her friends' pseudo relationship odd herself. She didn't voice the opinion besides nodding an agreement at Jazz's comment on the subject when the older girl found out. After all if that helped at least one of her friends or even made them both happy she was glad. (The half ghost teen, however, kept that it meant she'd won a bet with the jocks and cheerleaders _completely_ to herself.) Most of all, Ellie was grateful that Mr. Lancer had finally caught onto and dealt with the trio's bully problem, which further saved her school work.

Over all, these developments meant that Ellie had more free time than she'd had before she half died. Include Sam and Tucker's 'dating experiment', this meant that when there were no ghosts around she had more time to herself than she'd had in years. Of course, as she listened to music after her homework, this led to her thinking of the person- or rather, ghost- responsible. None of this would ever have even been possible, let alone happened, if not for Dan showing up. (Sam and Tucker dating excluded.)

At the time, the whole mess would have been unbelievably confusing, perhaps even mind numbing. If it weren't for Ellie having befriended Clockwork back while she was exploring the ghost zone back before the incident with Walker, that is. Once Clockwork explained everything, the only thought on the subject had been extreme gratitude that a similar path hadn't been possible for her. The Box Ghost had stolen Mr. Lancer's briefcase with the answers because of how old it was, so Ellie was given more time to study while the school attempted to gain a new copy. That Danny, who was essentially her, had been driven evil as a result of the stress the pressure put him under was a terrifying thought.

Her friends and family came to the conclusion that a future like Dan's was at this point impossible for their timeline. T ghost known as Dan was Danny's ghost half fused with Vlad's ghost half. Surely Plasmius' evil must have overwhelmed Danny, and what had started out as a full ghost hybrid of two halfas became a being all its own. Or so they had decided, they were convinced that it just wasn't possible for Ellie to become evil so surely Danny must be the same way. Vlad agreed with the theory, too. At the time Ellie had remained quiet.

Given time to really think about it, Ellie herself decided that she wasn't so sure. She questioned her own potential for evil, or lack thereof. Sure, the most evil thing she'd ever done was act like a brat when she destroyed Ghost Writer's Christmas poem. Pranking bullies was only mischief after all, and she'd never given in to the temptation to blast or kick someone into the next millennium because they made her really mad. Ellie's record was far from clean though.

Not just from the occasions she'd been controlled, either. In which case Freakshow came to mind as a specific example. Someone completely good probably wouldn't even consider or dream of retaliation or mischief. More importantly, though, there had been times when she'd given into an urge to be selfish or tried to something for herself for once and either caused or increased chaos as a result. Even if when the 'selfishness' was only wanting her friends or family to be happy. Using her parents' weird ghost catcher to separate her human and ghost half temporarily was a disaster. Vlad himself had been or at least seemed evil, but had now passed that. No, Danielle Fenton was more susceptible to temptation and evil than they thought.

The thought terrified Ellie beyond belief. How uncertain the future was worried her more than ever, seeing what Danny could have become. She already had to suppress fears that another evil powerhouse would show up, and beat her. Losing her loved ones scared her more than anything when she realized that it was a very real possibility. Desperation to save someone had already brought about some of her most impressive feats in her time fighting ghosts. If something truly horrible happened, it was a very real possibility that she would go postal.

Ellie's imagination joined her thoughts in betraying her, running countless scenarios of horrors or tragedies. Ellie tried to cut it out, she really did. If Ellie didn't stop soon, she might have nightmares fro a month. A scenario something that the teen was depressingly familiar with. After barely managing to defeat Pariah Dark, various outcomes where Ellie failed to stop him plagued her dreams for a week. No one knew, of course; Sam and Tucker had thought that she'd been paranoid when she worried about Vlad's intentions after the fact.

Ellie shook her head. She needed to distract herself pronto. But 'easier said than done' was an understatement in her case. Because of her, the lives of her family, friends, and even Vlad had been in danger. Shaking her head, she went ghost and, making sure she was invisible and intangible, flew down to the lab and into the ghost portal. No one in her family would understand if she tried to talk to them. Sam and Jazz wouldn't either, heck not even Vlad would understand. There was only one person- well, ghost- she could talk to. She needed to see Clockwork. He'd once said that his door was always opened to her if she needed something or just wanted to visit.

"Come in, Ellie." Clockwork said as he opened the door for her when she arrived, "I thought you would be dropping by sooner or later."

"Thanks, Clockwork." she said, managing a small smile in spite of her mood.

Clockwork led her to his living room. It was tastefully decorated with blues and purples, yet in spite of the high price Ellie was sure something similar would cost in the human world it was very comfortable. There was even a gear that made Ellie think of a television set. She wondered how many people acquainted with the ghost of time beyond knowing who he was or having seen him before had ever been in this part of Clockwork's home. One thing was for sure, no Observant would ever see any of the tower beyond the room where Clockwork did the majority of his job. Why they thought they could boss her friend around as they pleased was beyond Ellie, she knew for a fact that their power was all political.

"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." Clockwork offered, pushing off his hood, which stopped the illusion to reveal that he only appeared to be around three years older than Ellie and had shoulder length silver hair. (Proving that Jack wasn't being quite so silly when he was weary of him in an overprotective father way after all.)

"Thanks." she said, sitting down on one end of a couch.

Clockwork himself sat in a chair situated next to Ellie. "I take it something is troubling you?"

"You know how my biggest stress factor was that I used to lack free time to the point of usually having no time to myself?" Ellie asked, semi rhetorically.

"An expected side effect of your lifestyle." Clockwork confirmed with a nod, "It's difficult to relax and truly unwind when left with no time to be alone. Right now, however, I've noticed that you have ample time alone."

"That... might be an understatement, Clockwork." Ellie admitted quietly, "Tonight I had so much time to myself that I found myself with too much time to think."

"Your concerned about the future." Clockwork stated knowingly.

"Clockwork, what exactly were you referring to when I'd passed the point of possibly having a future like Dan's timeline?" Ellie asked, getting right to the point.

Never one to sugarcoat the truth, Clockwork looked the damsel in distress in the eyes and informed her,"At this point in time, you've overcome all obstacles or events where your words, actions, or lack thereof could have ultimately led to an apocalyptic future. That is what I meant."

"That's... a relief." Ellie sighed, "There's one less thing to worry about."

"I'm happy to be of help." Clockwork said, almost smiling but unable to bring himself to when Ellie still seemed so down.

"You've always been a big help, Clockwork." Ellie said, "I'm lucky to have you there for me."

"Think nothing of it." Clockwork assured, then noticing Ellie's sudden hesitation added, "Ellie, what specifically is bothering you?"

"Clockwork... is there really no future where become evil?" Ellie asked, lost and concerned, "I... I'm far from an angel. How do I know I won't end up similar to Dan if something goes wrong? I... I've been thinking about what you told me about that timeline. Danny was driven evil because he blamed himself for his loved ones' deaths."

"Ellie..." Clockwork wasn't quite sure what to say yet.

"I'm... so scared Clockwork." she finally admitted, "If I lose them, what is there to stop me from snapping too? I don't want to be like Dan."

Ellie was looking down now, tears about to fall. Clockwork put down his staff and sat next to her on the couch.

"Ellie, look at me. You can't judge something like this based on Dan and a few times when you didn't have control of your actions. Dan was a potential for Danny's future, that's true. But they weren't the same." he said, leaving no room for objections or interruptions, "When the ghost was pulled out of Danny and became his own person, Phantom was upset at what he viewed as rejection by his other half. I told you before that when he retaliated on Vlad and tried to overshadow Plasmius after pulling him out of the billionaire, the older ghost's evil overwhelmed Phantom. When it resulted in them mixing, they essentially became a completely different person. An already bitter Dan was angered and pushed over the edge when Danny Fenton cowered away from him and in that timeline the world suffered for it."

Ellie still wasn't sure."But... that still doesn't mean..."

"Ellie, look at me." Clockwork said, gently grabbing Ellie's chin and pulling her face towards him, "No human, alive or dead, is infallible, true. But you are far too caring to turn evil. All influences that could have changed that were gone a while ago. I would step in in any situation that could even come close, Observants be damned."

Ellie's eyes brightened. "Do you really mean that?"

"I do mean it." Clockwork ensured, "Ellie, you are one of the most beautiful people I've ever met or heard of both inside and out."

Ellie blushed. "Clockwork... now you're exaggerating."

"Not at all." Clockwork said.

"But I'm so... ordinary without my ghost powers." Ellie protested, starting to blush in spite of her disbelief.

"You're far from plain." Clockwork said firmly, "Besides, no normal girl could have done the impossible and captured my heart."

The last part shocked Ellie. "Wha-"

Clockwork leaned forward and kissed her briefly on the lips. "In short, Ellie, I'm saying that over the course of our friendship I've fallen in love with you, and am no longer able to allow anything bad to happen to you no matter the consequences." he said when he pulled away.

"That's good. Because I love you too, Clockwork." Ellie confessed, now smiling, "Meeting you was definitely the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Ellie Fenton, you've just made me the luckiest man either side of life." Clockwork said with a smile.

Then, they met each other halfway in another kiss. When she pulled away from need of air, a sudden thought occurred to Ellie.

"We're probably going to have to be careful now, huh?" she giggled.

"What do you mean?" Clockwork asked.

"Well, I don't need abilities like yours to know the chances of my dad taking the news well are quite a bit closer to none than slim." she pointed out.

"We'll cross that bridge together when we reach it. For the moment let's focus on the now." Clockwork replied, pulling her closer.

Meeting each other was, for sure, the luckiest time that had happened to either of them.

**The End**


End file.
